Part 1: Tapestry of Lies
by shadow kitty
Summary: The Deatheaters and Voldemort are back, and new students are fleeing to Hogwarts for safety. The Order is in an uproar and chaos is setting in. What do you do when you're expected to save the world without losing everyone you love? [Pre HBP with spoilers]
1. Summer Evening

s/k: Hey! So this is the beginning to our first HP fiction, it's kind of being renovated by me because I've nothing better to do and I really can't stop writing. ' We constitutes myself (shadowkitty a.k.a Kaleb) Starr as herself, and our good friend Tara as Hazel. So yeah… we inserted ourselves and other new characters, and the fic is pre-H-BP. We pull ideas and characters from H-BP, so don't be surprised if you find spoilers. (ie: that document down there written by the ministry? Yeah, that'd be Ms. Rowlings, and definitely not written by us, from H-BP)

WE DON'T OWN HARRY OR THE OTHERS, unfortunately, they are all in the capable hands of Ms. Rowling and we'll leave them there. R&R

Ch. 1

It was a dark, gloomy atmosphere, charged with both anticipation and fear. To the side stood a black-robed figure, awaiting the arrival of the others. The graveyard they were to assemble in was vast, covered in a thick layer of fog and mist that muffled sound. The silence was beginning to press on her ears, so quiet in the mist. The circular area of grass, clear of graves, was to be a meeting point, a silent, hidden area to assemble the most dangerous witches and wizards of their time. At one end of the circle was a tall headstone shaped as a small cathedral, the grave of someone who had clearly been important in the Muggle society. Now, with the mist around it, it merely looked eerie and forsaken. The slight robed figure stepped forward into place, and a light drizzle began to fall. Around the clearing there were soft pops as other black-robed figures apparited.

Their numbers had swelled since the breakout in Azkaban, but tonight was reserved for those about to be given an assignment; she was to be part of the task, and she was nervous. She recognized most of the Deatheaters as they appeared around her, Parkinson, Narcissa Malfoy and a slim figure beside her, another taller man, and one other, small person, whom she didn't recognize at all. Once all were present, a tense silence settled over the figures; they had apparited perfectly into a circle with a large gap left between two of the robed figures she didn't recognize. Then, from the mist emerged the Dark Lord. His skin was white, taunt against the fine bones of his face, with red eyes that always seemed to be narrowed into slits regardless of his ever-changing mood. The long, supple and bony fingers were hidden by the billowing sleeves of his dark navy robes, just like his feet. He seemed to glide smoothly into place, and took stock of his followers. The robed figures bowed in unison to their lord, and silently awaited his word. Nagini slithered up beside her master, she rose up enough for Voldemort to run his hand over her head, like some sort of perverse dog.

"My loyal Deatheaters," he began, his was voice high, clear, and dangerous; slithering out from between thin, bloodless lips. "I have a great honour to bestow upon a select few of you." He smiled, they waited. "Malfoy. Kolbe Come forward."

The clipped orders brought two youths towards their Lord, and then smoothly to one knee with their hoods drawn back to reveal their similar faces, an unusual proceeding, but most everyone here, aside from her, knew each other. Slim features, small, almost identical noses, and pale complexions that seemed to glow slightly in the minimal light reflected back at them by the fog. The most outstanding difference was their hair, he had hair that was almost white, slicked back against his skull, hers was like loose strands of a black spiders' web, short and hiding her eyes. "Yes, my lord." They uttered together.

Above them, Voldemort smiled tautly. "Yes, you shall be perfect for this task…"

The figures stayed bowed, staring resolutely at the colourless grass as they awaited their orders.

---

The summer was only halfway over and already it was wet and dreary. The heavy clouds above threatened to rain given the slightest prompting. Either ignoring or enjoying the stormy conditions, a 16-year-old girl wandered down Magnolia Crescent. If she'd walked past in the street, it's doubtful anyone would have taken real notice of her. Her trainers were well worn, jeans slightly baggy and comfortable, black T-shirt printed with a swirling white design that fell from the back of her right shoulder to her left hip. Around her hips she had tied a black zip-up jacket, as if she'd planned on being out for a while, and had thought she may need it if the weather turned on her properly. As she reached the play park, Kaleb headed straight to the swings and dropped into one of the two that wasn't broken. Snaking her arm around the chain, she gazed up at the fading daylight; clouds slowly turning shades of purple and red, until they had faded into the same blue-black as her short cut hair.

In a pensive mood unusual for herself, she let her stormy grey eyes take in the equipment, most of it covered in graffiti or torn apart by the local gang. Her thoughts drifted back to the beginning of the summer, when her stepfather had ordered her off to Little Winging, with her aunt Arabella. She'd expressed very clearly that the last place on earth she wanted to be was with: "... a batty old cat-loving Squib living half way across the bloody country!" Naturally, that's exactly where she'd ended up.

The move hadn't bothered her quite so much as she'd thought it would, the community was clean and neatly arranged; a far fetch from her last residence, to say the least. Where she had come from, it wouldn't have been unusual for those living there to have their windows boarded up, and keep their lights low, so as the house would appear to have been deserted.

Attention drifting, she glanced at the sky again, judging that she'd spent perhaps an hour watching the sun set fully, just thinking. She pulled herself off the swing and started winding her way back in the general direction of her aunts' house. However, instead of turning at Magnolia Crescent, Kaleb continued on, deciding to keep up her quiet exploration of the area. She turned onto Privet Drive, silently observing the closed curtains, the lights turning on or off, leaving multi-colored squares of light in their place. Continuing on, she padded silently along the rows of houses, letting the numbers slip by her. 10... 8... 6...

At number 4, she stopped. There was only a single, second floor light on, with the silhouette of a person leaning on the sill of the window, blocking part of the warm glow the light made. She stopped and turned, untying her sweater and shrugging it on as she watched the person in the window.

The zipper on her jacket seemed much too loud as she zipped it up in the still night, and it was this sound that caught the attention of the figure in the window. The head turned slightly to look at her, if it hadn't been quite so dark, they would have been looking one another in the eye. She could feel herself being scrutinized, and merely gazed back at the person. At her side, the soft double beep of her watch informed her that 9 o'clock had rolled around.

The sound of the watch seemed to break her from her pause, and she turned slowly around, starting to head back the way she came. When she reached the end of the block, she turned and glanced briefly over her shoulder, there was the figure, softly closing the front door and padding down the sidewalk across from her. Kaleb raised one eyebrow, but kept walking. Brushing the inside of her left arm on her waist, checking to make sure her wand was there.

---

He had spent the day in his room, reading, and re-reading the Daily Prophet, Quibbler and letters from Ron and Hermione. The floor was amply strewn with sweets wrappers and crumpled-up bits of parchment he'd started writing on, and then discarded for one reason or another. His hair, jet-black and messy as always, was being ruffled by the breeze that was filtering through his open window. Harry Potter sat at his window quietly, waiting for Hedwig to return from hunting so he could send off another letter. Under her cage, the headline on the Daily Prophet read in large, bold lettering: He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Returns! Beneath it was a long, extraneous article describing a rather fabricated and fictitious version of the raid on the Ministry by Deatheaters. The raid Harry and some other DA members had interfered with to the best of their ability. On top of his bed was deep purple pamphlet that he had received perhaps two weeks ago, listing some precautions the magical community should take.

Issued on Behalf of the Ministry of Magic  
PROTECTING YOUR HOME AND FAMILY  
AGAINST DARK FORCES

_The wizarding community is currently under threat from and organization calling itself the Death Eaters. Observing the following simple security guidelines will help protect you, your family and your home from attack._

_1. You are advised not to leave the house alone._

_2. Particular care should be taken during the hours of darkness. Whenever possible, arrange to complete journeys before night has fallen_

_3. Review the security arrangements around your house, making sure that all family members are aware of emergency measures such as Shield and Disillusionment Charms and, in the case of under-age family members, Side-Along-Apparition._

_4. Agree security questions with close family and friends so as to detect Death Eaters masquerading as others by use of Polyjuice Potion (see page 2)_

_5. Should you feel that a family member, colleague or friend is acting in a strange manner, contact the Magical Law Enforcement Squad at once. They may have been put under the Imperious Curse (see page 4)_

_6. Should the Dark Mark appear over any dwelling place or other building, DO NOT ENTER, but contact the Auror Office immediately._

_7. Unconfirmed sightings suggest that the Death Eaters may be using Inferi (see page 10). Any sighting of an Inferius, or encounter with the same, should be reported to the Ministry IMMEDIATLEY_

Harry sighed, turning the smooth roll of parchment over in his hands over and over again. In the street below, he thought he heard a sound similar to someone zipping up a jacket. His gaze dropped curiously from the dark sky to the figure standing on the sidewalk. By the size and way it was standing, the person seemed to be female, hands held behind her back, head tilted up to look at him. She looked close to his age, and after a moment, she turned and sauntered back down the street. There was something about her that intrigued him, maybe it was nothing more then the odd idea of someone wandering around on their own in the poor weather, be they a Muggle or a member of the magical community.

He thought a moment, and then let his curiosity get the better of him. He picked his wand up from where it had been previously discarded on his bed. He tucked it into his back pocket, and quietly opened his door. The house was silent. He slid out of his room and padded softly down the hall, when he reached the front door, he stuffed his feet into his trainers, and paused to listen once more. Dudley grunted loudly in his sleep, making Harry freeze. When a minute or so had passed without another sound, he opened the front door, and stepped out into the cool darkness of the night.

---

He was following her. She couldn't believe it, just what kind of luck was that? Hardly her third night, and she was being followed. Kaleb took a quick, sidelong glance at her follower as she turned a corner, changing her course so she was once again pointed at the play park. If he was a Muggle, all the better, and she wouldn't need to use her wand. However, incase he wasn't, she wasn't going to lead him back to her aunts' house, Arabella would only be in the way, and probably end up dead if something went wrong, in the worst case scenario.

The walk to the park seemed to take much longer then she knew it was, but he was getting closer, and she could see the swing set rearing up into the sky not far ahead. She continued walking until she was in the at least 30 feet onto the grass, and then whipped around, glaring fiercely at the person who had followed her.

He stopped short, hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket. She eyed him critically. His hair was as black as hers, but incredibly messy, and in the glowing orange light of the street lamp she could just make out his resiliently green eyes, glaring back at her defiantly. In the back of her memory something tried to flicker up. She didn't say anything, daring him silently to try something. He didn't' say anything. He didn't move at all.

She raised an eyebrow slowly, as if asking him to get on with whatever it was he was going to do. _What does he want?_

---

Now that he was there, Harry had to admit that he was at a bit of a loss. What was he to say? 'Hi, I'm Harry, and I was just curious as to why you were standing outside my aunt and uncles house?' It sounded stupid, even in his head. He settled instead on a simple: "Hello."

The girl just stared, she stared at him blankly, as if he'd just created the most amazing anti-climax in wizarding history. Which really, he had. " 'Hello' ?" She repeated back flatly. "That's all you've got to say after following me all the way out here?"

Harry rolled his eyes, and shuffled his feet a little. "Well, what am I supposed to say?"

"You tell _me_," she snorted. "_You_ followed _me_ out here, do you have any idea how creepy that was? For all I knew you were a rapist, or a murderer, or a Death… liking criminal." Her sentence faltered, and she was quick to recover. There was little she could do to save the poor grammar though, and that was what truly caught Harry's attention.

"Is a death-liking criminal the same thing as a Deatheater?" He asked, raising his eyebrow critically, calmly waiting for her answer.

_So he is a wizard, _she thought to herself, _damn, and here I thought I might get off easy. Well, let's find out if I'm guessing right. _"Perhaps," she said quietly. "Only if you're who I think you might be."

Interested, Harry played her game. "… and who do you think I am?"

She smirked. "A magician of sorts, with green eyes and a famous childhood."

Immediately he was more alert, more wary of the girl in front of him. "Who's asking?" His gaze swept the park behind her, little more then faint outlines of equipment in the dark night.

"A friend." She answered carefully. "A friend of the Order." She was standing straight, looking directly at him, almost no trace of the former agitation in her stance.

Still cautious, Harry didn't answer at first. "A friend of the Order." He repeated slowly. "Do you have a name then?"

"Kaleb." She said, nodding. "As bad as this will sound, I heard about you through my aunt; Ms. Arabella Figg, on Magnolia Crescent. She said that if I mentioned her name you might take to the idea of a new friend a little better."

He nodded, and pondered for a second what to do next. For once, he tried to determine the most foolproof and safe way to go. "Well, if you're what you say, then you won't mind if I ask for better proof of some sort. Anyone could walk up and say what you've just said."

She chuckled, the light reflecting off the merriment in her eyes. "You're exactly like Dumbledore said you'd be."

"What?" The mention of Dumbledore had caught him totally by surprise. "What do you mean?"

She took a few steps forward, so that they weren't standing quiet so far apart, and didn't have to speak so loud to be heard clearly. "New students have been let into Hogwarts, because of the panic that You-Know-Who has caused. Dumbledore personally spoke to all the new students and their families. When he saw where I would be spending my summer, he mentioned that there was another young wizard in the area, and that if I was interested, I should look him up." She grinned. "It's always nice to go into a new school knowing someone. I wasn't expecting to meet you quite like this though."

Harry was still standing very stiffly, but it was hard to stay on guard when his 'opponent' was smiling and inquisitive. "So…" He started, "how do you know Ms. Figg?"

"I'm her distant relation, great niece, or second niece or something." She shrugged. "We're related, and I'm more like her niece then anyone else in the family."

Harry nodded, touching on the raw area where Sirius had been; he knew the feeling. "I see."

The night was cool, and the dark British sky began to throw the first drops of the storm down on the two teens. Kaleb wrinkled her nose as an offending drop landed, and took a moment to zip her jacket up all the way, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "It's going to storm properly in a minute." She commented, waiting for Harry to say something.

He nodded. "Yes, I think it's time we go home, before it really starts to pour and we're soaked." Even as he said it, he didn't really believe it. The rain was coming down harder, and in less then 5 minutes the storm would be in full swing, and dumping buckets. Regardless, they turned and began to stride quickly back to the sidewalk, and towards home.

Their feet carried them through the building puddles and the splashes of lamplight until they reached the turnoff for Magnolia Crescent. Kaleb stopped, and it only took Harry a moment to notice. He took a few quick steps back to her, standing beside a lamppost, not quite in the rays of light. They really looked at one another in the pale light, two drowned rats with black hair in the rain. Kaleb began to giggle, turning her giggle into a little cough when Harry looked at her indignantly, it only lasted a moment until he cracked a smile as well. "I can't look that stupid." He said, taking his glasses off his nose and using his wet sleeve to wipe away the drops and condensation.

Kaleb smiled. "I don't know, I'd say we both look ridiculous. We're a couple of wet loony's out for a stroll and pseudo-dual in a storm."

Harry laughed, and set his glasses back on his nose. "Will you come round tomorrow then? We loony's need company." He asked, unable to hide his obvious hope.

She nodded. "Yes, I think I definitely will. You're a far fetch more interesting then the other boys I met, yesterday. Looked like a pig in a blonde wig leading a heard of trolls."

"You mean Dudley?" Harry stuttered. "You ran into Dudley's gang?"

She looked a little confused, but nodded. "Could've been, they were pretty cocky if it means anything to you."

Harry laughed again. "I can't tell you how good it is to hear a familiar opinion about him." He grinned. "He's my cousin."

Kaleb's jaw dropped. "Seriously? But… you're so… different…" Harry scratched the back or his wet head and nodded. "He's not a wizard, is he? Someone that ridiculous couldn't be a wizard."

"No, it's alright." He assured her. "He's about as far from a wizard as they come."

She smiled. "Good, because I don't think I could abide going to the same school as him for the next two years."

They stood just a moment and shivered in the storm, before Kaleb broke the sound of the rain and said goodbye. He waited while she jogged a little ways down the road and let herself in to Arabella Figgs' house, waving back to her when she did from the step.

"Kaleb." He said to himself with a smile, and started to saunter back to number 4, Privet Drive. "I think this summer just got better."


	2. Orchids at the Burrow

Ginny: We are all powerful, and we are owned by shadow, Starr and Tara!

Ron: That's right! And don't you say otherwise or we'll tell Harry on you!

J. K. Rowling: #throws down a blot of lightening with extra lawyer power#

shadow, Starr and Tara: #sizzle#

Tara: We definitely do _not_ own Harry Potter and co. … -.-'

**Ch.**** 2 **

"Ginny! Come clean your room up! Before Juniper gets here!"

The tall red headed girl turned from watering a group of crisp white orchids in the garden behind the Burrow, her long hair swinging out behind her as she did so. _Her name's_ Hazel... she thought to herself. "Yes Mum!" she called back, setting down the watering can and going inside. As she came in the back door, she noticed the battered valise near the front door, and the jacket on top of it. The bag was Mrs. Weasley's constant companion whenever she travelled, a little voice at the back of Ginny's head was telling her that her mum was about to leave for a while.

"You're going back to Grimmauld Place, mum?" She asked as soon as Molly came back into the kitchen.

Mrs. Weasley's face fell slightly, "Yes, I'm so sorry Ginny. I'm needed by the Order, Fred and George will be over to look after you for a while, Juniper will be staying too. Bill and that Fleur girl are going to come check on things later tonight, and I'm sure everything will be all right. Besides, your new kitty can keep you company." The stress of the Dark Lords' return was beginning to show on Mrs. Weasleys' face, and more often then not, the twins, or someone similar were called away to 'look after' Ron and Ginny for a few days. To be straight, it was irking both to the point of madness.

Ginny had to fight a suddenly strong urge to tell her mother she wasn't allowed to go traipsing off to London and leave Ron and herself at the Burrow; and that although she loved the cat she'd been given for her birthday, he did not take the place of her mother. Normally she loved how quiet it was when she had the house mostly to herself, and the disorder that often followed when Fred and George were in charge. Now though, with this becoming a regular event, she was beginning to hate the evenings without her mother telling them off for something or other. She was also beginning to hate being the youngest. In a few years Ron, Harry and Hermione would all be members of the Order and doing something; she, Ginny, would be at home waiting for updates from the unreliable Daily Prophet.

Instead of saying what was on her mind, she settled for: "I don't like it, I hate sitting here waiting."

Molly nodded. "I know, Ginny dear, I'm so sorry." Her eyes flicked to her pocket watch, once she'd read the time her eyes came back into sharp focus. "I have to go, I'm going to be late. Tell Ron what's happening, would you?" Without waiting for her daughters answer she hugged her and disapparated with a 'crack!'

Ginny stared at the empty kitchen for a minute before wandering upstairs to tell her brother what had occurred. _I'm almost starting to wish we weren't part of the Order at all now, or this awful war. _She winced for a second, imagining for a second what life would be like if they weren't. …_Almost… _

_--- _

Not too far away, a girl with light chestnut hair reaching just below her ears was pounding her way along a wooded path. Her build was small and slightly gangly, her pale grey and violet eyes almost watering with the combination of her own speed and the oncoming wind. She'd already been running for well over three kilometres at top speed. Breathless, she slowed enough to collapse against a tree. "Getting lazy." She chided herself. Her eyes caught sight of the little stream she passed every time she took this route, she pushed herself up off her tree and walked slowly over to the water.

Juniper Hazel Evans scooped out a little of the cool water in her hands, splashing it on her face to cool off. From where she sat, she could see the top of Ginny's house. In one quick motion she rose to her feet and started running again; grinning as the trees thinned into a passing blur beside her. She whipped around the final bend in the path, hurtling up the drive and skidding to a halt in front of the door. As she raised her hand to ring the bell, footsteps thudded down the stairs inside the house. Hazel stepped to the side as Ginny threw open the front door.

"Ginny!" Hazel yelped, despite stepping to the side the door had knocked her knees out from under her, a nasty habit Mrs. Weasley had been trying to get rid of. Hazel toppled over backwards, rolling down the steps and stopping with her nose pressed into the dirt. "Tad exuberant, eh Ginny?"

"Tad rusty, 'ey Hazel?" Ginny grinned as she mimicked her friend; they went through similar routines almost every time Hazel came over. Ginny reached out a hand and hauled her friend to her feet. "C'mon, my snapping orchids have got their first set of teeth!"

Hazel raised her slim eyebrows sceptically. "Is this a good thing to be happy about?"

Ginny stuck out her tongue. "Yes! Of course! They haven't got legs yet or anything..."

Hazel rolled her eyes. "Eh heh, safest thing since picking daisies..."

The pair spent the rest of the day in the garden, climbing trees, feeding the snapping orchids, and seeing who could find the most gnomes and throw them highest. When the twins arrived after 3:00 pm. They were quickly coerced into cooking waffles, as that was the only thing they could really cook without it turning into charcoal. By the time enough waffles had been cooked, it appeared that Fred and George already had a sort of… welcome home inquisition ready for their sister.

"So," George started once they'd all sat down at the table. "Whatever happened to this Dean Thomas I heard about from a reliable source, Gin?" Fred 'slyly' slid another waffle towards his sister.

Ginny smiled. "Nice try, no way. Can you toss the syrup here too?" Her grin broadened until she saw the expressions on her siblings' faces; a sort of mix between extreme agitation and the mockery of a new challenge being dangled in front of them. Fred rose to the opportunity barely a second before George, meaning he got to ask his question first.

"Does he look good?"

"Is he a Gryffindor?"

"Does he brush his teeth?"

"How'd you meet?"

"Is he a prat?"

"A Prefect?"

"Does he like Quidditch?"

"Is he a good kisser?"

"How long have you been with him?"

"Is he anything like Harry?"

Ginny glared. "As soon as we get back to school, you guys better watch your mail."

Hazel had a grin on her face that matched the twins. "Are you going to answer these gentlemen's questions? Gin?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Why should I?"

Immediately the whole table jumped, this time, it was George who got his words out. "You're hiding something from us! If you weren't, you'd answer!" His younger sister looked about ready to curse him with something incurable.

"Yes. Yes. Yes. At school. No. No. Yes. Yes. Wouldn't know. Never was. No. Happy?"

Fred, George and Hazel stopped, comparing the questions to the answers. Hazel smiled broadly. "You said he was a good kisser."

Ginny's mouth hung slack. "Did not!"

"Did too! And you answered some non-existent question 'no'." She beamed.

"I – You – That's not – we never – it wasn't – I mean it – joke – " Ginny sputtered, turning a particularly nice shade of pink. "I should hex you, you know we never dated."

Fred and George had managed to keep straight faces throughout their sister's conversation with her friend, now it was simply too much. Ginny was still flushed, and now truly looked ready to do some damage, despite the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Wizardry. Hazel, on the other hand, was sitting tense and grinning in the chair across the table.

" 'S just a kiss Gin, not a marriage proposal." George said, letting his undertone hint at an obvious unknown.

"George!" Ginny yelped, standing up suddenly and knocking her chair over. Her glare was fantastic.

"Calm down Ginny, like you said, it was you who dumped him." Fred added.

Now she was torn between telling the very clearly that Dean Thomas had been a joke to scare Ron (which had been very effective, she'd been pleased to note) and chasing them around the house until each and every one of them had been hexed to the point of immobilization.

"Ginny?" A voice called from upstairs.

"Ron! Help!" She called back.

There was a moment's pause, as if he were actually considering coming downstairs to help her. Then: "Sorry mate, not a chance, just keep it down, will you?"

Ginny went to drop herself back into her chair, only to discover that it wasn't there. "Wha!" CRASH!

Fred and George grinned. "Gotten a tad slow since we've been gone?" George asked as Hazel slipped around the table and pulled her friend off the floor.

"C'mon, there're ripe crab apples in the backyard." Fred put in. "I haven't had one of those in ages!"

As the group made their way into the backyard, Ron watched from his bedroom window. Smiling slightly as Ginny caught the tiny red fruit one of the twins had just thrown at her, he couldn't tell which one from up there. With a light sigh, he collapsed back onto his bed, rolling over onto his stomach and staring at nothing. After a moment, he picked up his quill and continued writing his already one-and-a-half foot long letter. _If Hermione's not happy with this then she's gone completely mad_. He finished the letter off much later with a hastily scrawled signature when Fred called him down for their real dinner perhaps an hour later.

He came pounding down the stairs only to be surprised by the smell of properly cooked steak, potatoes, and gravy... _Wow, the twins must have found a recipe book._ "Mmmm..." He drooled as he dropped into his chair, reaching for the potatoes the same time as Hazel. He prepared to fight tug-o-war style for them until he looked up; blue-green eyes that resembled clear ocean water looked back at him. Soft light chestnut hair that fell around her ears as an amused smile played around her lips. "I take it you'd like some?" Hazel's familiar grin widened.

"Ladies first mate." George whispered to Ron from his right, followed closely by Fred's:

"I'd find something else to do with your eyes instead of staring, 'specially if you've finally taken a fancy to her."

Ron hastily dropped his gaze to his empty plate. "Er... yes. You have them first though." He mumbled.

"Thanks." She smiled, apparently completely oblivious to the brief exchange that had just taken place in front of her, after all, she'd been a family friend for years. She scooped a mound of potatoes onto her plate, then passed the dish back to Ron; who was still staring at his plate, knuckles bone white from his death grip on his fork and knife.

"Erm, thanks Hazel…"

The meal continued with light discussion, which picked up when Bill and Fleur apparated into the kitchen. Hazel shot a questioning look at Ginny, who understood immediately. "They 'work together at Gringotts'." She grinned.

"Ah..." Breathed Hazel. The couple sat down, and Hazel just raised her eyebrows incredulously as Fleur attempted to distract Bill's attention from his food.

As the meal drew to a close, Bill began giving out the instructions Mrs. Weasley had owled him before hand.

"Alright, tomorrow morning's going to come and go pretty quick, we're meeting Harry and Hermione at Diagon Alley, they've got their own transportation. Hazel your mum dropped off your trunk earlier today. I hope you don't mind sharing a room with Ginny for a while..."

Hazel shook her head, it was less then a week until school started and none of them had bought anything yet. She herself needed Hogwarts robes and books; she'd switched schools over the summer from Eyrie Academy on the other side of Hogsmeade, to Hogwarts. Her mother had thought it would be safer due to Dumbledore's presence.

"Fred, George, have you figured out how you're going to get them all to Kings Cross? I want that sorted out tonight, tomorrow at the latest."

The twins exchanged not-so-subtle glances, and then nodded. Bill eyed them carefully. "Whatever, so long as it's not illegal." He mumbled. "Now I want the rest of you upstairs with your trunks at least partially packed and in bed in half an hour. Fleur and I will look after the dishes."

Everyone finished whatever small morsels were left on their plates and then bolted upstairs to pack and prepare for sleep. Fred and George disappeared into their room, Ginny was next up the stairs to change into her pyjamas as Bill and Fleur began to clear the table, putting the dishes in the sink and starting to wash them; this left Hazel and Ron to go up the stairs at the same time, which really shouldn't have been a problem.

As they reached the landing where Hazel was sleeping, she bid goodnight to Ron. "Night Ron, have a good sleep." She called after him, not really expecting an answer.

He turned, "Goodnight Hazel." He blurted, turning on his heal and smashing into the wall, tumbling down the stairs and landing with a very final sounding 'thud' at Hazel's feet.

"Oh! Ron? Ron, are you okay?" She lowered herself into a crouch, resting her hands on his shoulders with a look of friendly concern written on her face.

Ron moved to sit up quickly muttering: "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fi– " The end of his sentence was cut short as he sat up and smacked heads with Hazel, both tipped over into the walls. "Sorry!" Ron yelped as he stood up, trying valiantly not to stagger, and ran up the stairs.

Hazel pushed herself off of the wall she'd just been leaning against, massaging her forehead where he'd run into her. _You'd think he was afraid of me or something._ She thought to herself. _Odd... do I have the dark mark stuck on my forehead or something?_


	3. An Owl and a Fox

Kaleb: #stirs cauldron#

Hermione: #throws in several ingredients#

Hazel: #peels banana promptly eats banana#

Ron: #checks Potions book#

Ginny: Is it done yet?

Harry: Almost, now we just have to let it sit and mature for… 1000 years and 22 days…

shadow, Tara & Starr: What!

shadow: Another failed attempt, we're never going to own Harry Potter -.-'

Ch. 3 

The mid-August sun beat down on the streets of London as Hermione's mother drove up to the book store next door to the Leaky Cauldron, letting the car idle as Mr. Granger counted out some wizarding money for school supplies.

"Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself Hermione?" He asked nervously. He'd known his daughter was a witch for almost 6 years, and also knew that she could take care of herself, but like any parent it didn't stop the worrying. He only knew the bare minimum about the danger of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

"Yes dad, I'll be fine. Diagon's full of other Hogwarts students if I need any help. Harry and Ron are supposed to meet me, so there shouldn't be any trouble." Nodding, Mr. Granger kissed his daughter's forehead. Hermione smiled and opened her door. "Bye Mom!" The door closed as soon as her mother had finished calling, "Bye dear!"

Hermione waved as she walked back to the Leaky Cauldron, she'd always liked independence, especially in the wizarding world. Getting her books and supplies on her own was something she'd done since her third year at Hogwarts, and it was not a privilege she wanted to give up. Her bright mood was immediately dampened when she saw how empty the bar was, and she didn't stop as she passed through, glancing around skittishly.

As she came out the dingy back door and up to the brick wall she pulled her wand out of her jacket pocket. Tapping the brick, she stood back and watched as the wall arranged itself into an arch. The lights and bustle of Diagon Alley filtered through to her ears. "It's good to be back." She grinned.

---

In front of Flourish and Blotts, two people were having a slight disagreement on where to go next. The taller of the two had light blonde hair, and was holding a bag full of various purchases in her hands. The second would have been her son, almost as tall as she was and sturdily built with short, darker, dirty-blonde hair and dark brown eyes.

"No, that's the ink shop, I'm positive, look at all the quills and such in the window." He said, pointing to the display of writing supplies.

"Well, then lets go get your writing materials." His mother beamed.

"That's not what we're looking for though!" He cried, slightly exasperated.

"We can get your robes when we find the shop, in the mean time, let's go get some parchment and ink. Maybe a new quill too." She chirped.

Hermione spotted the pair as she wandered towards Florean Fortesque's ice cream parlour, hoping that Harry and Ron might have found each other and stopped for a snack. The crowd of shoppers was thin, and she felt obvious as the only person wandering on her own. The pair caught her attention with their comic discussion. _Now this I haven't seen before, they look new._ She wandered up to the two, who really did look completely lost, and made an offer that would have turned Mrs. Weasley green with worry. "Hi, my names Hermione Granger, you seem a little lost... ?"

They stared at her for a minute as if trying to understand why she cared, and why she had approached them. "Yes." The mother said as she recovered fast. "I'm Alice, this is my son Greg – " Greg winced for some reason. " – He's going to be going to Hogwarts this year, but we've always done our shopping in Hogsmeade. Do you know where all of the stores are?"

Hermione nodded, vaguely aware that in the back of her head her mind was saying: _I know where the best bookstores are... _and another voice muttering something like: _what are you doing? For all you know they're hunting Harry… _She shook her head to clear it.

"Well then, that's excellent! Greg, dear, you go with Hermione and I'll wait over here at the ice cream place. Okay?"

Greg looked like he'd been smacked in the face, but he was too polite to object. "Ah, sure... alright…" He looked just as apprehensive, if not more about this idea then Hermione, who was definitely regretting her boldness.

"Perfect! I'll see you in a few hours then, have fun!" His mother passed him his book list and then disappeared into Florean's parlour.

"Well..." Hermione stammered, she was hesitant to give up her search for Harry and Ron so soon, but his mother had seemed so happy, and she didn't want to be rude. She glanced at the stream of furtive shoppers again. "...That's not quite what I was expecting, but alright. What do you need to get, Greg?"

"Gregory." He corrected her immediately.

"Pardon?"

"Could you call me 'Gregory'? I just don't really like having my name shortened."

"Well, Gregory, what do you need to get?"

Gregory gave her a small smile, he could tell right away he would get along fine with this girl for the afternoon. "We were looking for somewhere to get robes."

"Then you want Madam Malkins', it's up there." She turned and pointed up the street. "Shall we?" She asked a little hesitantly, resolving to stay in public places, and to keep looking for the Weasleys and Harry.

Gregory nodded and the pair walked up the cobbled alley to the robes shop.

---

Almost 2 1⁄2 hours later, Hermione and Gregory had managed to round up all of his school necessities, replenish Hermione's supplies, and meet a few other Hogwarts students who'd also come to get their books. Overall, they were rather pleased with themselves.

"So, you went to Eyrie Academy before?" Hermione asked as they started to wander back to Floreans parlour. "I never really thought about it before now - it's on the other side of Hogsmeade, right?"

Gregory nodded. "It's farther back into the forest then most people would think, but yes, that's where I've been going since I started school."

"So then, why did you transfer to Hogwarts? From the little I've read about Eyrie, it's not a bad school at all."

"Never had a transfer at Hogwarts, have you?" He smiled as she shook her head. "It's not incredibly common, most of the well known schools don't accept them, for obvious reasons. Professor Dumbledore agreed because my mother was a friend of his, other students were taken in too, I don't think I'm the only one."

"You didn't answer my question." She said, the corners of her mouth tugging into a grin.

Gregory sighed. "What's different about this year and last year...?" He asked, he sounded like he was trying to coach an answer from a five year old.

Hermione played his question answer game with vinegar, she was no simpleton. "Um... I'm not sure, Greg. What's different about this year and last year?" Her voice was as innocent as she could make it.

He shot her a look coated in annoyance that she was playing with him too. "Well..." He started, fighting to keep his voice under control. " – if I though really hard about it, I could think of one thing..."

Hermione's eyes grew wide and curious. "What's that, Greg?" She'd noticed his reaction to her response, and the purposeful shortening of his name. Her words stayed slow, and deliberately clear, as if he had a hard time understanding English.

His eye twitched once. She stifled a giggle.

"Hermione!" A voice called from behind them, a little ways away still.

"Ron!" Hermione called back. "Is that you!"

A flash of red hair and Ron was standing, tall and gangly as ever, in front of Hermione and Gregory. "Hi 'Mione. Harry, Ginny and me have been looking for you for ages." He smiled, gaze flickering over to look at the sandy haired boy standing beside Hermione. "Who's this then?" He asked as he jerked his thumb at Gregory.

"Oh!" Hermione jumped a little. "Sorry. Ron, this is Gregory from Eyrie Academy. He's transferring over to Hogwarts this year because of – Voldemorts return." She hesitated only a second, checking discretely to see what Gregory's reaction to the name would be. Ron gave a little shudder, and Gregory flinched visibly. "Gregory, this is my friend Ron."

The boys smiled and shook hands. "I've heard of Eyrie, other side of Hogsmeade. What house were you in?" Ron asked.

"Snowy Owl, I had some of, if not the, highest marks in the school. I could take my NEWT's this year if I really wanted." Hermione had to remind herself not to stare after a second. _Finally! Someone who actually cares about what marks they get!_ She was practically glowing.

Ron stared openly. "Blimey, it's a good thing you met up with Hermione then. She's probably the smartest witch at Hogwarts." Hermione started at the unexpected compliment, her cheeks tinted a nice shade of pink.

"Really?" Gregory asked interestedly, his eyebrows were raised and he seemed most pleased with this new development.

"I keep my grades up." She said with a little grin.

As the three of them had been talking, Harry, Ginny and two girls Hermione didn't recognize came up to them. "Ron! Don't disappear like that mate, we've spent ages looking for you." Harry said lightly, he scanned the two people Ron had been talking to; there was a brown-eyed boy, and a girl beside him who had a striking resemblance to... "Hermione! Excellent, we've been looking for you."

"Harry!" Hermione's head snapped up in surprise. She smiled and noticed the girls with them. "Who're your friends?"

"Who's yours?" Harry replied, grinning impudently.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Gregory, this is Ginny and Harry, two of the best characters you'll meet anywhere." The boys smiled and shook hands. "Ginny, Harry, this is Gregory. He's coming into Hogwarts from Eyrie Academy."

Harry grinned. "Nice to meet you; Hermione, Gregory, this is Kaleb. She's transferring into Hogwarts too." Harry motioned at his accomplice.

"All," Ginny grinned, motioning to the group, "this is Hazel, she's also transferring to Hogwarts from Eyrie. Her and her mum have been family friends for as far back as I can remember."

"Hi." Hazel smiled, shaking hands with everyone in the group enthusiastically. When she shook Gregory's hand she added a quick. "I thought you looked familiar. What house were you?"

He stood up a little straighter and smiled. "Snowy Owl, yourself?"

Hazel chuckled. "Yeah, I definitely remember you. You're that one Amanda and her group found so interesting." He looked at her inquisitively and she just giggled again. "I'm from Red Fox, not surprised you don't really remember me. We never really talked."

He nodded slowly. "Fair enough. It's not a large school, but it's not like one person knows everyone."

The group made fast friends, despite how different the new comers were from the rest of them. They met up with Gregory's mother at the ice cream parlour, dropping off his school supplies and then departing to finish picking up Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hazel and Kaleb's school lists.

Things ran smoothly until they passed Olivander's wand shop. It looked as if someone was trying out the wrong wand rather enthusiastically - they stopped for a second, amazed at the damage being caused. Wands in boxes were flying off the shelves, the window sent out a spider web of cracks from its centre and the door shuddered violently on its hinges, it was chaos. A girl came flying out of the shop in a flurry of long auburn hair and pieces of paper that looked suspiciously like receipts, running headlong into Ron. The girls' momentum carried both of them into the middle of the street, where they tumbled roughly to the stone cobbles. Ron was the first to stand up, looking a little confused and more then slightly bruised. The girl was up a second after him, she shook her hair out of her eyes and then looked over to see whether whoever she'd run into was all right.

"What do you mean by attacking me like that?" Ron asked immediately, cutting off any chance of an apology.

Her eyes grew to twice their normal size, then narrowed into slits of annoyance. "I did not attack you!" She sniped back, refusing to let this boy she didn't know start a fight and win it. Meanwhile, Harry, Ginny and Hermione exchanged significant looks and called to Ron that they'd be at the Leaky Cauldron. They towed a stunned looking Gregory, amused Hazel and apprehensive Kaleb away from the scene in the direction of the pub, hiding grins at the looks of amusement on the newcomers' faces.

Ron either didn't hear his friends' departing remark or chose to ignore them; he was intent on his argument with the girl. "Then what do you call what just happened!" The other shoppers seemed completely unconcerned that two teenagers were standing a little out of the mainstream of traffic shouting at one another. Apparently this wasn't unusual.

She crossed her arms over her chest, she was wearing a brown corduroy jacket, jeans and boots that peaked out from beneath the hems. "Well, that would have been my sisters doing; she's not very experienced with a wand yet." She stated as if it were obvious, rolling her eyes and sending him another nasty look.

Ron's gaze flicked from the girl in front of him to Olivander's shop which was, surprisingly, still standing. "Your sister did that?" He asked incredulously, his voice loosing the edge of someone in an argument.

She just looked at him, an unreadable expression on her face, which cracked into a small grin. "Wait a sec., you have a little sister too, don't you?"

Ron nodded, letting himself smile too. "Kind of scary when they do that, isn't it?"

"I'm Starr Talenyn." She said, extending a hand. "Just moved here from Canada."

"Ron Weasley, current residence is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Ron said, introducing himself and shaking her hand.

"You go to Hogwarts?" Her grin widened. "That's where I'm going this year!"

Now Ron just looked confused. "You're a transfer student too?"

"Oh there're lots of us, especially from the smaller schools." She explained. " Britain's not the only country with half-mad Caesar-wannabes, you-know-who's got contacts all over the world."

"I knew that..." Ron said uncertainly, he'd known nothing of the sort.

Starr shook her head. "Whatever, want to meet my little sister? I have a feeling you'll be amused." Ron let her lead him into the totalled wand shop, surprised to see that the person causing the havoc was indeed a small girl. There was a resemblance, though she had shorter, darker hair then her sister; and was dressed in a much more wizard-like set of robes; she couldn't have been more then 11 years old. Off to the side stood who could only have been their mother and youngest sister, small, short haired and brightly clothed.

"That's your sister?"

Starr nodded, "She's a little over exuberant sometimes."

---

Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Hazel, Kaleb and Gregory had spent the remainder of their time together wandering around Diagon Alley and drinking butter beers from the nearly deserted Leaky Cauldron. At 5:00pm when the shops began to close, Ron still hadn't met up with them.

"Do you think he's all right?" Hermione asked no one in particular.

Harry noticed Kaleb and Gregory exchange silent looks; they probably felt like outsiders for the first time that day. "He's fine Hermione, he probably got caught up in arguing with that girl and then went back to Floreans thinking that's where we'd gone. It's okay."

Gregory didn't voice any of the thoughts going through his head, he didn't really know any of them well enough to know how they would react if he brought up that he-who-must-not-be-named was free and hunting again. Kaleb was in a similar state, though she knew Harry well enough to predict his reaction.

They walked in silence for a while, all thinking separate thoughts until they had done a loop of the alley and found themselves staring blankly at the Leaky Cauldrons back door. Once they'd talked a little more, each went their separate ways. Hermione went to go wait at the bookstore next door for her parents; Gregory back to meet his mother at the ice cream shop, Harry to take the knight bus home with Kaleb (both his aunt and uncle had objected strongly to him having even a little contact with the wizarding world, but they had no means of preventing him), and Hazel and Ginny headed for Diagons fireplace, it was a standard meeting point for almost anyone who wandered the alley.

Meanwhile, as Ron's original party split up to go home, he and Starr had picked up all of her new school supplies and were happily left licking the last ice cream cones Florean had sold for the day.

Starr glanced at her watch, her grin slipping away. "I have to go meet my mom."

Ron nodded. "Alright, I suppose I'll be seeing you on the first day of school then?"

Star smiled a little. "It was good to meet someone at Hogwarts, I'll be looking forward to the train ride."

"Bye then." Ron said.

"Bye." Starr turned up the street and headed in the direction of Olivanders wand shop, her mother and two little sisters waiting for her.

Ron's gaze dropped to the ground. It had been a fun day, and it had definitely been good to see Harry and Hermione, but why did the whole thing have to pass so quickly? With a little sigh, he began to wander towards Diagon Alley's fireplace; it was time for him to go home.


	4. To the Platform

Tara: Confundus!

Starr: Confundus!

shadow: Confundus!

J. K. Rowling: Guys… I made their world; do you really think I wouldn't have given myself immunity to harmful spells?

Tara: …

Starr: …

shadow: I can't believe we still don't own it!

Ch. 4

Harry awoke to his battered alarm clock ringing obnoxiously beside him, the morning announcer from whatever station the little machine was tuned too finished introducing the next song and a few minor chords of music came on before Harry finally found the 'off' button. The morning's first rays of sun were filtering their way through the clouds, giving his room the slight feel that the walls were glowing. He rolled over and stared at his ceiling, it was a full 10 seconds before he realized what day it was.

A small grin crept onto his face and he looked over at the little calendar he always kept on his wall. "Yes!" He gave a little whoop of excitement and flew out of bed, pulling on his jeans and large shirt as he checked his room for anything he'd need at school but had forgotten to pack the night before. Finding nothing, he let Hedwig out of her cage and placed his broom in his trunk.

15 minutes later he came down the stairs with his trunk thumping behind him and Hedwig's cage under his arm. "I'm leaving!" He called as he pulled on his shoes. Hedwig came gliding down the stairs behind him. Once Harry stood up from lacing his trainers she hopped onto his shoulder. "We're going back Hedwig." He whispered to her, grinning madly. She gave a little 'hoot' in reply as he opened the door and left number 4 Privet Drive, dragging his trunk behind him.

---

At exactly 10:15 am Harry rang the bell of Arabella Figg's house on Magnolia Crescent. Kaleb answered the door, looking vaguely like she'd only just woken up.

"Little excited, are we Harry?" She asked grinning lopsidedly and tucking a stray bit of hair behind her ear. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans that draped loosely over her feet, only letting the white-socked toes peek out at the bottom; and a three-quarter sleeve black and white shirt with 'cursed' written on the front.

"You should be too, going to let me in?" He asked. Before Kaleb could answer Hedwig spread her wings and made the short glide over to the coat hanger just inside the door. "... or maybe just my owl?"

Kaleb looked at the beautiful snowy owl for a moment, as if considering just that. "Yeah, the owl's cuter, bye Harry." She smiled as if she were exited and closed the door, missing Harry's nose by an inch. He stood there for a second, a little stunned, he hardly had time to understand what had just happened when she opened the door again, Hedwig good naturedly sitting on her shoulder and nibbling her earring.

"On second thought, why don't you come too, I think your feathered friend likes you." The pair grinned and laughed a little, Hedwig hooted and jumped to Harry's shoulder as Arabella Figg came around the corner, a cat held in her arms.

"Good to see you again Harry," she smiled. Her house coat was wrapped over what looked to be a flowered skirt and a dark shirt of some sort. Her hair curlers were in, and her shag-carpet slippers were on. It was as if she hadn't changed the slightest since he'd first been sent to her for baby sitting from the Dursleys. "You have everything you need here then?" Harry nodded. "Right then, I'll call Dumbledore then and we can be off." She set the cat on the floor and went into the living room.

Harry stepped into the familiar house and set his trunk upright by the coat rack with Hedwig's cage beside it. "How's she planning on calling Dumbledore, and why?" Harry asked Kaleb quietly, so as not to disturb whatever Ms. Figg was doing.

Kaleb shrugged. "I think he just wanted to check in with all the new students. I guess I count."

"Kaleb! Harry! Bring your things to the living room!" Ms. Figg called.

Kaleb nodded. "C;mon, we'd better get a move on." Harry nodded and started to move his trunk and Hedwig's cage down the narrow hall towards Ms. Figgs' voice. Kaleb disappeared into what would have been the cupboard under the stairs at Privet Drive, emerging less then a minute later with her own trunk, and a wicker basket tucked under her arm. In the basket lay a small, black and grey swirled kitten with one tall white sock marking her front right leg.

"Who's that?" Harry asked, keeping an eye on Hedwig.

Kaleb glanced at her charge. "Her?" She nodded her head at the cat. "This is Eats Small Children." She said sarcastically. Harry nodded slowly, giving his black-haired friend a look of: You have gone completely over the edge. She smiled, "Nah, this little girl wouldn't hurt a fly, her name's Cody." At her name, the little creature sleepily poked her head over the baskets rim, letting her ears droop and her head fall to the left in the plain expression of: who're you?

They made it to the living room and set their trunks down in the middle, a lively fire was crackling in the fireplace. "You seem to like boys' names." Harry commented.

Kaleb shrugged. "Better Cody, or yes, Kaleb," she looked at him smiling a bit, "then Daphne, or Candy, or Fluffy or something."

As she finished saying this, her Aunt came into the room and started doing something with the plant pot above the fireplace. "Now, I assume you both know how to use Floo powder?" her voice was a little muffled because she wasn't facing them. As she turned around, the pair nodded. "Good, then grab your luggage and a fistful of powder and say: Platform 9 ¾."

Harry looked at Hedwig on his shoulder and glanced at Cody, would travel by Floo hurt the animals? As if she'd read his mind, Ms. Figg added: "I'll be taking your owl, Mundungous will be apparating there in a few moments."

Kaleb set down the basket and slowly started to wake-up Cody, Harry coaxed Hedwig onto Ms. Figg's arm. "Kaleb, maybe Cody should stay here."

Kaleb's head snapped up and Harry could have sworn she almost glared at her aunt. "Why can't Cody come?"

Ms. Figg sounded sorry, but her voice also carried a tone of reality and firmness. "Kaleb, she's still a kitten, how do you know she won't get lost at Hogwarts, or claw the furniture, or any number of things that kittens do? She can go up at Christmas, if she's behaved well and I think that she'll be alright there."

Holding Cody in her arms now, Kaleb's gaze at her aunt faltered. "How do you know she _will_ run into trouble? I've looked after her ever since I got here, _you're_ the one who wanted her put down because she was 'runty'."

A look passed between the two, Kaleb was the first to turn away a little. "I'm not going to argue with you about this Kaleb, Cody stays here until at least Christmas."

Kaleb nodded slowly, placing the sleepy kitten back in it's basket she took hold of her trunk and a handful of Floo powder as she passed her aunt to get to the grate. Without any hesitation or a 'goodbye' to Ms. Figg; Kaleb threw the powder into the fire place and said clearly. "Platform 9 ¾." She stepped in at the as the powder hit the fire, appearing to vanish with the column of green flame that surged up and wrapped around her.

"I think she may be mad at me." Arabella commented. "You're turn Harry." She held out the little planter pot of Floo powder.

As he pulled his trunk up beside the grate, Harry turned to Ms. Figg. "Thank you for getting us to the platform."

Ms. Figg smiled, busying herself with tying her housecoat. "No trouble dear, and don't worry about Kaleb. She's a little moody sometimes."

He nodded, and stepped into the fire.

---

Through the light fog of sleep, Ginny could hear Wendlin scratching at the door to get out of her room. _Don't suppose he'd wait, would he? _She thought to herself._ Some of us so actually do that thing called sleep._

"Cut it out Wendlin." She moaned. The handsome black cat turned at the sound of its name, fixing her with a look as if to say '_what_ did you name me? _Why_ should I respond to that?' After of moment of annoyed grooming, Wendlin sauntered over to Ginny's bed, leaped easily up onto her pillow, and curled up beside her head.

Rolling her eyes, Ginny grabbed another pillow and tossed it over at Hazel in the bed next to her. "Get up sleepy head, Wendlin's purring like mad, it must be 7."

Hazel gave a loud, theatric snore.

Before Ginny could find something else soft and puffy to throw at her friend, two tall, gangly red-headed boys apparated in the middle of the room. "MORNING GIRLS!" Fred and George cried in unison, big dopey grins on their faces.

"Die." Hazel muttered, curling deeper under the covers and wrapping both pillows around her head.

---

2 hours later, everyone in the Weasley house was assembled on the front lawn, George and Fred had indeed thought up a way to get all of them to the platform without doing anything illegal; however, this was only based on their knowledge of the wizarding laws. Fred started handing everyone what Ginny and Ron quickly recognized as headless hats, while George fastened each trunk to a broom stick and bewitched it to be less then 1/8th what it would normally weigh.

Once each twin had completed his job, they got everyone's attention and began to explain their idea.

"Alright then," started Fred. "We spent our leisure time over the summer working on our joke shop ideas, as you may have guessed, and found a way to extend the field of the headless hats."

George picked up where his twin left off. "Now, it's not the same quality as an invisibility cloak or anything, but it will get us to the platform fine." He finished brightly.

Hazel looked at her hat like it might bite her; this was not the first run-in she'd had with Weasley's Wizard Weezes. "It's ok," Ron muttered once he was sure neither of the twins would see or hear him. "I don't think these ones stay stuck to your head afterwards." Contrary to the effect Ron was probably trying to create, this didn't make her feel better.

"Hats on!" George called from the front of the group. Ron, Ginny and Hazel placed the red velvet hats on their heads, the feathers attached to the back of their brims tugged at their string leashes in the slight wind. As Ron looked around for the rest of his traveling company, all he could see were vague blurry outlines; but four other feathers danced around him.

"Smart, wasn't it?" One of the twins asked from somewhere to Ron's left.

"Come on then, up we go!" Cried the other, he mounted his still-visible broom and pushed off into the air.

Someone scuffed their foot on the dusty driveway, "What about our trunks and brooms Fred? Or George, I don't care which one of you answers." It sounded like Hazel.

There was a quiet swish of robes as one of the twins came down to hover near Ron was, assuming she was nearby. "That's the genius of the hats, or us. Get on your broom..."

Obediently, Ron mounted his broom and raised himself enough that his trunk was hovering a few inches above the ground. The trunk and broom vanished under him, leaving the unnerving feeling that he was floating completely on his own. "Cool." He grinned.

"Only 10 sickles at Weasley's Wizard Weezes in Hogsmead." Either George or Fred said brightly from a few feet above him. "Now, follow the pretty feather!" With that, five feathers rose up into the sky, flapping violently behind their owners in the wind.

---

It was dark, it smelled so strongly of charcoal it wasn't even funny, she could feel it adhering itself to her clothes, her face, her arms. Tucking her elbows in closer she bowed her head a little, trying to keep the black soot out. What seemed like an eternity later, she emerged into the light of Platform 9 ¾, letting go of her trunk she stumbled in a circle, striving to regain her balance and coughing slightly.

"Well, that was fun; now I remember why I _avoid_ traveling by floo." She muttered to herself. Turning back to the fireplace, she realized too late that she should have moved her trunk. A boy covered in soot, as she must have been, came tumbling out and tripped over her luggage immediately. Truly going head over heels and landing squarely on his face.

"Harry! Sorry, I completely forgot to move it." She winced as he peeled himself off the wooden platform top.

"S'fine Kaleb, I'm alright, I think my glasses even – " He trailed off when he realized the left lens had a spider web of cracks. "Fine then, the glasses didn't make it but I'm still alright."

Kaleb smiled. "Good, then repair your glasses and then we can um… do whatever it is you do with a train…" Her eyes glanced around the station, they were about 20 minutes early and only a few students were there. A lady Harry recognized as the trolley witch was directing a few house elves wearing the Hogwarts pillow cases in loading food into the front car of the train. Before answering, he repaired his glasses and 'scourgified' both himself and Kaleb.

"Well," Harry started, "generally when there's a train and you're going somewhere, you ride on it. So we put our luggage over at the back end of the train, and then find ourselves an empty compartment and wait for Ron and Hermione."

Kaleb cocked her head sideways, it reminded Harry of Cody, and how the kitten had looked at him; as if she didn't understand or recognize what he'd just said. "Ok. Lets do it." She finally said, shrugging and grinning.

---

_I can't believe I'm flying over a Muggle city, this is completely irresponsible! What if the charm wears off? Or something goes wrong and they can actually see us? _Hazel took a second to review the thoughts that had just snapped across her consciousness. _Since when did I become so worried? I need to relax..._

The dark brown feather came to a hovering stop just in front of the glass doors into the train station. As soon as an unknowing Muggle pressed the handicap button, leaving the door open for an extended period of time, Fred (marked by his tan-speckled feather) lead them into the station.

Ron's smile started out just tugging at the corners of his mouth, but it spread and grew until it was so big he was almost chewing on both his earlobes. "This is so cool..." He whispered as they gained altitude and went for a kind of victory lap around the ceiling before diving down and passing through the barrier; five silent 'whooshes' as the brick rearranged itself to let them through.

As they came into the stations open area, the peeled left and whipped off their hats as they went. All of them grinning like idiots and laughing crazily, Ginny was laughing so hard she had problems landing.

Harry and Kaleb stared from their carriage, eyes as wide as saucers when they recognized Ron, Hazel and Ginny. "That's not really... is it?" Kaleb asked in disbelief.

Harry laughed, his smile almost as large as Ron's. "It is! I don't believe it."

Now it was Kaleb's turn to grin. "I want to do that!" She crowed. "That's bloody brilliant that is!"

As Ron, Ginny and Hazel started to bring their luggage to the back of the train, Hermione and her parents came through the barrier, Hermione's head snapping from one side to the other looking for Ron and his family.

When her eyes finally stopped roving over the station and came to rest on Ron, she yelled out: "Ron Weasley I cannot believe you just did what I think you did! Not only was that incredibly irresponsible and very, very stupid; but you took off your hat before you were all the way through the barrier!"

Ron stared at her wide-eyed. "I… I did not!" He stuttered. Smiling and completely ignorant of her parents wide eyes she gave Ron a hug and almost glared at him. "You're a prat, you know that? An irrepressible prat." Confused, Ron could only continue staring.

Hazel, Ginny and the twins wandered up to join the pair after the girls had dragged their now normally heavy trunks over to the end of the train. "You're a little crazy Hermione, anyone ever told you that?" George grinned lop-sidedly. "Really we know you're just jealous because you didn't get to fly through a Muggle train station."

"I'll bet it was you two that convinced him to do something so - " Before Hermione could finish her sentence, a girl she didn't recognize with long, straight brown hair came smiling through the barrier. The headphones she had on her ears dropped to sit around her neck as she tugged them off her ears, eyes searching the slowly filling platform. Grinning madly, she paused just long enough to spot Ron and started over.

"Ron! How's – " She'd hardly taken two steps when a tall, sandy-haired boy busily muttering to a book came rushing through the barrier, which the girl was still partially in front of. The pair collided and hit the floor with a resonating 'thud' and their various belongings scattered across the wooden platform.

Both Ron and Hermione had stopped their conversation to watch them. It was the girl who managed to sit up first, bad temperedly pushing the boys arm off her stomach and kicking his right foot off her ankle. As she went to stand she felt the tension on her headphones increase, tethering her to the ground. Her eyes followed the cord and she saw her iPod in pieces.

"My iPod!" She yelped, completely oblivious of the boy now sitting up to her right.

When he saw his book being torn apart by her foot, he snatched her ankle and roughly moved her entire foot. "Get off Jesse!" He cried. With her foot taken right out from under her, the girl fell over backwards, landing squarely on the boy's side. He let out an audible 'whoosh' of air from his lungs. "Ow!"

"Well it's your fault! Why don't you watch where you're running?" She sniped, her eyes fiery, making sure to poke her elbow into his ribs that little bit extra.

He opened and closed his mouth silently for a second before he pushed her off him. "_You'd_ be the one who was standing in the middle of the barrier!"

It was then that Ron and Hermione chose to intervene, each coming forward and helping one of the two up. Greetings were exchanged, as well as subtle glares between Starr and Gregory. Hermione noticed the tension and broke it neatly with: "Did you know that troll boogies have roughly the same consistency as fat?"

Starr's eyebrows rose and Gregory turned to look at her like she was crazy. "Where on _earth_ did you hear that?"

She grinned, "Wizarding Wireless Network, you can learn some interesting stuff when you have nothing to do." Starr cracked up, and not long after a smile was decorating Gregory's features too. Starr gathered the pieces of iPod and hastily 'reparo'-ed it as Greg gathered up his book. They dragged their luggage over to the back of the train, then assembled with Kaleb, Harry, Ginny and Hazel in their compartment.

10 minutes later, the train pulled away with the Weasley twins laughing and chasing it on their broom-sticks. Calling out things like: "Have fun at school!" "Say 'hi' to Peeves for us!" and "Make good choices!" with the largest smiles Ron had seen from them in a very long time.

"BYE!" Harry yelled out the window back at them. "We'll visit you in Hogsmead!"

---

s/k: death, I'm sorry I know that's a horrible chapter ending but it was just getting too long. Anything over 7 typed pages in one go of reading is just huge, and editing chunks like that… blegh… the next chapter's longer though -.-'

Tara: I'm going to Australia! I'm going to Australia!

Starr: We know, we're envious, and you're bringing back, for all your friends, 4 boys, 2 joeys and a small child. -.-'

Tara: Guess who's in Australia! Guess who's in Australia!


	5. The Welcome Feast

Tara: I'm back in town in 11 days!

Starr: Woot woot!

shadow: Did you bring back an army of 'roos and children with accents so we can drive Rowling and the lawyers to the brink of insanity?

Tara: Right... those...

Starr: ... is that really the best plan we have right now...?

Ch. 5 

The entire group summed one-another up, there were quite a few names that not everyone knew. They sat three to a seat along each side, with Hazel perched awkwardly on the luggage rack above everyone and Kaleb sitting on the floor with her back resting on the little bit of wall beneath the window. Soon after everyone had actually found a spot, Neville and Luna opened the door and poked their heads into the carriage.

"Oh..." Neville sighed, sounding downcast. "I suppose this one's full then, isn't it?"

Harry smiled, "Yeah, you could say that, you're welcome to stay and meet everyone though."

Luna grinned and made room for herself beside Kaleb beneath the window, Neville closed the door behind him and squeezed onto the seat with Harry, Gregory and Hermione.

"Anyways, most of you know I'm Harry..." Stated Harry, Kaleb snickered quietly and he shot her an exasperated look. "What? That's a perfectly good introduction. 'Hi, I'm Harry'. That was completely uncalled for."

In all fairness, Kaleb really did try hard not snicker any more then she already was. "But… you're Harry Potter, come on, you can do better then that." She teased him. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm Harry, that's Kaleb, I'm mature, she's not." He flashed a grin at her. "Better?"

Starr felt Ron poke her a little with his elbow, so she took that as a hint and spoke up. "I'm Starr Talynenn, I just moved over here with my family from Canada." There were a few little 'oohs' and 'aahs' around the compartment as everyone was distracted from the previous bickering. "Um… I think that's me in a nutshell… oh, and History of Magic is the greatest subject ever!" The 'oohs' and 'aahs' evaporated.

Ron laughed. "Even Hermione doesn't like History of Magic all that much, just wait until you meet Binns."

"You, sir, can go stuff it in your ear, there's nothing wrong with liking history. Brits." She snorted, rolling her eyes.

"Children, play nice." Hazel chided them from up top, "Starr, you can kill Ron _after_ we're off the train. It'd just be far too messy and we'd all have to explain all the blood to the Headmaster."

Neville's round face turned up to look at the odd, short-brown haired girl lying up top on the luggage rack. Next to him, Gregory spoke up: " – and you are... the girl who sits in luggage racks?"

She grinned and made a face at him. "Damn straight, I'm Hazel E.. Nice to meet you all. I've known Ginny since forever, and I'm a transferring student from Eyrie Academy."

"Ginny Weasley, over here." Ginny called. "Hazel doesn't live far from my house." Harry shrugged, not at all bothered that he'd never heard of her. "Oh, and that's my brother Ron, you don't want to know anything about him though, he's boring – " she grinned as several people hastily turned their snickers into short coughs. Ron's face paled and then he glared at her a little. " – and this is Hermione, the smartest witch in the school." Ginny added quickly, diverting attention from Ron. Hermione pretended to curtsey, as if she'd just been regally introduced.

"I'm Kaleb Fallow." Kaleb waved from her spot on the floor under the window, subconsciously tucking a bit of black hair behind her ear. "I'm not a morning person, and really, that's all you'll ever need to know."

Ron just looked at her. "Oh come off it, and you said Harry was bad at introductions."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't know, I think your sister did a fantastic job." She smiled sweetly as his ears began to redden. "Well… I suppose you could say I'm good at Potions, it's my favourite subject next to Transfiguration. There, that counts as an interesting bit."

Across the little space Luna smiled. "You're going to love Professor Snape then, he only accepts the very best into his Advanced Potions class." Hermione and Gregory perked up a little. "I'm Luna Lovegood." Luna's calm voice narrated. "This summer I went on a hunt for the krumple-horned snorkack in France. We didn't catch one, but we came close many times." Everyone stared, except Ginny, who began to smile, and occasionally made little sounds similar to a hiccup.

Gregory looked around to make sure he wasn't going to interrupt anyone, and gave himself an intro. "I'm Gregory, not Greg, Gregory. I'm a good student in all my subjects, and I completely 'whooped' my Arithmacy class for the last 3 years in a row." He glanced up at Hazel. "… and I don't sit in luggage racks."

Hazel made a little sound of disagreement. "That's because you're just not this cool."

"I play a sax, I think that makes me pretty cool."

It took a moment for this to sink in. " 'Sax' As in a saxophone?" Harry finally asked. Gregory nodded.

"Anyone else play an instrument?" Ginny asked excitedly.

"Viola and violin!" Kaleb called.

"Flute!" Starr smiled.

Hermione' cheeks shaded a light pink, "I took up piano over the summer..." Harry, Ron and Ginny starred at her for a full 3 seconds, Neville on the other hand congratulated her. She smiled, "I'm not very good yet, but it's loads of fun." After getting over their astonishment, Harry and Ron were quick to voice their congratulations.

Hazel took a tally in her mind. "Wow, we've practically got a full band!"

Kaleb shook her head a little. "My viola and 'Mione's piano are the lowest sounds we've got, what we really need is a cellist." The other instrumentalists nodded. "No matter, we should all play together some time." The statement was generally accepted by the group, everyone nodding and smiling.

Neville and Luna left after a while, and the group munched on food from the trolley witch while Hermione and Gregory had a competitive discussion on some, small insignificant section of Arithmacy.

As they were preparing to turn the conversation to another different topic, the compartment door slid open and Draco Malfoy's lean, tall figure stood imposingly in the doorway. One by one, everyone went quiet.

"Good afternoon, Potter," The four new students almost flinched visibly at the venom Malfoy put into the name. Behind him, Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zambini, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle could be seen. Blaise looked more bored than anything else. "… and company. I see you've already taken the chance to corrupt some of our transferring students." Hazel inched out so she was sitting up on the rack instead of curled on it, then delivered him the most spectacular death glare Harry had seen in a very long time. It rivaled McGonagall's'.

Draco smirked a little as he noticed Gregory sitting beside Hermione. The sandy-haired boy was watching Draco as if he were extremely confused, and thinking hard. "Don't let her get too close, you might get Mudblood on you." Before anyone else could react to what had just been said, Kaleb and Harry were on their feet with wands drawn point blank at Draco's face. Just as fast Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle had raised their wands at the pair. Without a second thought Hazel drew her wand. Ron, Ginny and Hermione stood, all with their wands in hand.

Gregory and Starr, the only two left seated, exchanged looks of extreme confusion. "A spot of rivalry, have we?" Starr asked innocently.

Draco grinned appreciatively. "I see you've at least left us two that aren't converted. Miss, and your friend, would you like to join us for the remainder of the ride?"

"Bugger. Off." Kaleb's voice had a subtle undertone to it, an edge. The pair exchanged the smallest of looks. His gaze also lingered on Hazel, who shook her head ever so slightly while maintaining the most disgusted look on her expressive features.

Harry was a little amazed that Hazel had taken his side so fast when neither she nor Kaleb had ever really met his nemisis, even if Kaleb had heard of him. Gregory and Starr were still a bit puzzled, but they had taken a hint, and along with keeping quiet, had a general idea of what was going on. Gregory got to his feet and calmly placed himself between the two groups, primarily Harry and Draco. "Right then, that's enough guys. I don't really care if you duel somewhere else but it's not happening on the train."

Draco, the only one who hadn't drawn his wand placed a hand on the sandy-haired boys' shoulder, pushing him aside. "You're not part of this yet." He said smoothly, his voice slippery, like honey and oil. "We all remember, Potter. I think maybe you should stop playing hero and leave us alone. Bad things happen to 'people' who aren't on the right side." And so, without even drawing his wand, Draco Malfoy turned and left, not bothering to close the compartment door behind him.

Ron's ears were rimmed so red they almost matched his hair, Harry didn't look like he was breathing he was so mad, and Hermione appeared livid. "Well... shall we continue on then?" Starr asked hesitantly, observing the trio's reactions along with Gregory's shock, Kaleb's cold anger, Hazel's glaring eyes and Ginny's very apparent murderous feelings towards the whole situation. They turned as one to stare at her. "It could have been worse... ?" Kaleb and Ginny, despite themselves, snickered quietly.

As the day wore on, it started to rain lightly, leaving small streaks of water on the trains' window. The group changed into their school uniforms and settled down to wait out the last 15 minutes or so of the ride. Once the large machine came to a halting stop, the group climbed out onto the more worn wooden platform, damp from the light rain which was still fighting to continue falling.

Kaleb tried to follow Harry through the crowds, feeling lost and alone among the horde of students who actually knew what they were doing. She jumped when she felt someone's hand brush her shoulder. "Who the – oh death, Starr, don't do that!"

"Sorry." The other girl smiled apologetically. "Didn't mean to scare you. Do you have any idea what we're supposed to do?"

"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!" They turned in unison and saw Hagrid beaming broadly beneath his large beard and waving his arm, as if he would have trouble catching the small students' attention.

Harry caught sight of the astonished look on Gregory's normally calm, smiling face as he registered Hagrid, and smiled himself. "That's our Care of Magical Creatures teacher." He said, watching Gregory nod dumbly.

"There!" Starr grabbed Kaleb's hand and fought through the crowd in an attempt to follow Harry and Gregory. They dodged in and out of the other students, finally emerging out into the area with the carriages. The pair stopped dead when they saw what was pulling them.

"Thestrals..." Starr breathed.

Kaleb studied her carefully. "You can see them too?"

The Canadian nodded grimly. "My father's an Aurror, that's why we moved here in the first place. Your Ministry is a little short on people in that profession at the moment." They scanned the black-robed students getting into what they probably believed were magically-drawn carriages; it was Kaleb who pointed out Harry, Gregory, Hazel and Ron climbing into one.

Hermione appeared beside them, toting along Ginny. "Hey, we've been looking for you guys everywhere. Would you like to catch a ride?" Smiling as she was and happy to have found them, neither Kaleb nor Starr had the heart to ask her why the school had Thestrals. _I doubt she can even see them._ Starr thought inwardly.

The ride was bumpy, but filled with happy chatter about how good the feast would be, and how hungry they all were. When everyone reached the Entrance Hall, they tagged up with Harry, Gregory, Ron and Hazel. They only managed to stay together about a minute before a severe looking woman in deep, forest green robes came up to them. She dipped her head in greeting at Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny.

"Students." She turned to Gregory, Kaleb, Hazel and Starr. "Miss Talynenn, Miss Evans, Miss Fallow and Mr. Walter; come with me please." Without waiting for an answer, she turned and led them through the crowd of returning Hogwarts students and into a small room just off the Great Hall. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny stared for a moment blankly before they were pushed forward by more students behind them.

Starr took in everything around her, muttering to Kaleb: "How do you suppose they know which house we get put into?"

"I think that's what they're doing now." The black-haired girl answered, also letting her eyes rove endlessly over the room they had been taken to. There were about 40 or 50 other students also in the room; it was crowded to say the least. After a moment McGonagall returned with a battered looking black hat.

"Move to one side of the room please, everyone, thank you." She pulled a stool out from one of the corners and briskly set the hat on it. From her sleeve, she produced a roll of parchment. "Now, if you would step forward when I call your name and put on the hat please, that would be excellent." She paused a moment, reading out in a clear voice: Allan, Jennifer."

Jennifer, an oriental girl with long black hair, stepped over to the stool and placed the hat on her head. Near the top of the hat, a rip opened and seemed to form a thoughtful mouth-ish shape before saying: 'Ravenclaw.'

Starr and Kaleb exchanged looks of understanding, smiling, and waiting for their turn. Davis, Carrie – Ann was also declared Ravenclaw, followed by Dillon, Jonathan as a Hufflepuff. Jonathan looked to be a second year, while Carrie-Ann a fifth. Evans, Juniper was called forward next, and the slight girl looked a little ill. _I don't suppose mum remembered to write my middle name on the forms. _She sat down on the stool and allowed the Professor to set the hat on her head.

_Hm..._ Hazel jumped, she had grown up in a world of magic and heard of items like the hat rifling through a persons thoughts, but she'd never actually had it happen to her. _Get out of my head!_ Her insides turned over as she yelled at it silently. Then she felt herself pale, had she offended it?

_You're a hard one to place, miss. _

_Just get it over with! I don't want you in my head! _She demanded, she could have sworn the hat smiled a little at her.

_Hm... Plenty brave, interesting bloodlines to put you in Gryffindor though._

_Oh, so now there's politics to this._

_A little impulsive with what you do, but you're definitely intricate. For all that, I'd say..._ "Slytherin!"

Hazel fairly ripped the hat off her head and handed it to the Professor, she chanced a glance at Kaleb, Starr and Gregory, their reactions varying from confused to worried. She faded into the background, standing apart from the other students, she was first in her house and it seemed that none of the others, especially the smaller ones, wanted anything to do with her. _Obviously I was wrong about taking after mum._

Either the Professor didn't notice or was used to these reactions, she read the next names on her list. "Fallow, Kaleb." She came forward without a fuss though, placing the hat on her head and appearing completely confident.

_Hm... another interesting personality, you won't be half so difficult to place though. A strong streak of loyalty, sneaky, intelligent, you've a great capacity for a 'pack' as well, like a wolf. What's this... ? _The hat poked for a moment at memories Kaleb had lived through at the beginning of the summer. _No, those are mine._ She bent a mental wall around the memories, closing them to the hat. It poked at them once more, then seemed to decide that it was not something to pursue if she wanted them protected so badly. Patiently, it sifted through her other memories, looking for traits that resembled the different houses.

_Slytherin, perhaps?_ Kaleb froze her thoughts on the house, and put up another wall. _You've just proven yourself a true Slytherin, so why fight it?_

_Wouldn't you?_

The hat ignored her question, instead calling out her house name. "Slytherin!" McGonagall took the hat from Kaleb's head and checked her list for the next name. "Jeffers, Andrei" A small boy came forward and politely cleared his throat for Kaleb to get off the stool. She moved to stand with Hazel. _Well, that makes two of us, seems like an eternity since that thing was put on my head. I'm betting on 10 seconds, tops._

Once Andrei was sorted, Starr was counting until it was her turn. 12 new students later, her name was called. "Talynenn, Starr."

She'd barely sat down and let the hat graze her head when it announced: "Gryffindor!"

_It took longer on almost everyone else... that doesn't really make - _The hat cut her thoughts off abruptly with: _You're pure of heart and fiercely loyal to those around you, I hardly needed to sift through memories for that. _She jumped a little and stood up sharply, she'd completely forgotten the hat was on her head. McGonagall smiled a little, whisking off the hat and adding a quiet: 'Welcome to Gryffindor, Miss Talynenn' before calling up Towers, Stephanie. Starr smiled back at the Professor and wandered over to the small crowd of Gryffindors.

"Walter, Gregory"

The whole room seemed to pause as the last student made his way over to the stool and the sorting hat, he accepted it from the teacher and placed it on his head calmly.

_You'd do well in Ravenclaw, quick mind, excellent at anything academic. _Despite its obvious first impression, the hat hesitated. Politely, Gregory tried not to interrupt whatever it was thinking. _No, there are things more important then school. _"Gryffindor!"

Only slightly disappointed, he returned the hat to McGonagall and went over to Starr and the others in his house. "Alright," the Professor started, "when I open this door you must go into the Great Hall through the large doors to your left. From there you will sit at your house tables and wait momentarily for the sorting of the first years." With a flick of her wand, the small wooden door behind them opened. "You'll be told where and what to do after that, off you go." She turned and exited out the door on the other side of the room, Gregory caught a glimpse of what he assumed to be the first years in there. The new students exchanged looks within their groups, then mobbed together and left, turning as instructed and stopping at the large doors into the hall.

The students, ranging in age from second to sixth years stood in silence and stared until someone in the back asked, "Is anyone going to open it?"

Small nervous smiles ran through everyone, no matter what house they were in. Starr smiled a little wider. "Well, let's go, we're going to miss the little guys being sorted and that sounds kind of important." She walked over to the large handle on the right-hand door. "Anyone like to help?" Two Ravenclaws and a Hufflepuff separated from the small crowd and went over to Starr. Between the four of them, they had the right door covered.

Kaleb, Hazel and Gregory took the hint, Gregory taking the hand of the small boy beside him. "What's your name?" He asked nicely.

"Cael, Cael McLeod." He answered carefully, not sure what he was being volunteered for.

Gregory smiled. "C'mon Cael, I think those two girls need some help opening the door." Cael laughed a little, and went with the older boy to help Kaleb and Hazel with the left door.

---

Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron had spent the ten minutes after Kaleb, Hazel, Gregory and Starr were taken by McGonagall speculating on what they were doing.

Hermione rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time. "They're probably being sorted quietly; can you imagine what it would be like if Dumbledore had all the new students sorted with the first years?"

Ginny nodded her agreement almost immediately. "That would be weird." As Ginny finished her comment, the sound of the doors to the Great Hall opening turned everyone's head. Lead by the sixth years, the group entered the hall, splitting into their four houses, Hazel and Kaleb gave little waves to Starr and Gregory. Ron's jaw nearly hit the floor when the pair turned away from the Gryffindor table, and made room for themselves at the Slytherin table, with Malfoy. Across from Harry, Neville nearly choked on his last bite of pumpkin pasty from the train.

"Did they just do that? Did they just... what?" Ron asked quietly, his last words almost coming out as a whisper.

Ginny stared openly at the pair, now sitting near Draco Malfoy and chatting amiably to each other. Harry caught sight of her eye twitching before she burst out with: "Not half an hour ago they were at each others wand-tips! Now they're _sitting next to him?_ And he's not cursed!" Her intense whisper cracked up into a shrill squeak as she finished. "I can't believe this!"

Hermione snapped her eyes away from the scene and became fascinated by the plate and cutlery on the table. "There's a reasonable explanation for this, there is. They probably don't recognize him sitting there… or something…" She faded off, her eyes betraying the immense concentration and amount off thought processes going through her head, trying to justify what had happened. It was a look they would later discover occupied Gregory's features when he was working on an Arithmacy problem.

Before anymore of the friends could voice their opinions or react openly, Gregory and Starr came and sat down across from one-another beside Neville and Hermione. "Bad luck, hm? What with Hazel and Kaleb being in a different house."

Harry made a strangled sort of noise that was cut off as the first years entered with McGonagall, looking as small and frightened as they did every year. No one in their little group listened to the sorting, ignoring it in favour of staring at Kaleb and Hazel or trying very hard _not_ to stare at them. Harry and Ginny were especially silent, both trapped in their own worlds until food appeared on the plates they had been staring at. Harry had to be prodded into eating anything at all.

---

Over at the Slytherin table, Kaleb tapped Goyle on the shoulder, silently asking him to move over. When he didn't, she pressed two fingers into the pressure point on his shoulder, maneuvering him out of the way with a slight grin. When he glared at her, all she said was: "Well, you didn't move."

Hazel hastily slid in beside Kaleb, slightly wary of sitting near Malfoy and his cronies. Kaleb seemed to have no such fears. "Hi short-snout." She whispered to Malfoy as Professor McGonagall walked in with the first years. Noticing how they made themselves appear smaller by not standing tall, talking, or making eye contact with anyone. She felt a slight pang of sympathy for them. Silently, she thanked the headmaster for sorting the older new students separately.

The Slytherin table in general paid attention to the sorting, Hazel was amazed at the whole process though. Paying the most attention as the song was sung.

_Through the ages, by and by_

_I've lived within these walls_

_Charged with heavy duties_

_By the Founders of the halls_

_Sorting out the quickest ones,_

_The liars in their art_

_The one's who work the hardest_

_And those with a true heart_

_They're sent off to their Houses_

_To compete for petty wins_

_When the real war is fought_

_Outside the bubble that they're in _

_The Gryffindors have battles,_

_Fought in fancy and the field,_

_Hufflepuff's are ready_

_To prove their grit and zeal_

_Slytherin's read 'twixt the lines_

_In Tombs of modern times_

_And Ravenclaw thinks fairly_

_When the final bells do chime_

_Is this enough though? _

_I think not_

_To keep the ties so strong_

_For taking on an enemy_

_Too great for only one_

_Let you ponder now, my friends_

_Solutions to this thing_

_This dilemma on the outside _

_Of the bubble you are in._

_And as the sun sets low tonight_

_While safe in hidden holes_

_Remember that there is no dark_

_So dark a spark can't glow _

The hat's audience stayed silent for a minute, those who had actually listened to the words in their depth now exchanged confused or worried looks. McGonagall raised her eyebrows slightly, then continued with the sorting as if nothing had happened.

Ignoring the Professor, Malfoy turned to look at Hazel and Kaleb viciously. "I don't know what it's been like where you were before, but here I am referred to as Draco or Malfoy. _Nothing_ else. Understood?" Kaleb bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement, her long fringe hiding the smirk spreading across her face. Hazel just nodded.

Dinner was finished, and with everyone full from the feast, Kaleb and Hazel stood drowsily and followed Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle out of the Great Hall. Hazel turned and threw a final glance around the hall, hoping to catch Ginny, or at least Ron's eye and tell them how confused she was. All she got was a semi-glare from the entire group, as if they'd been betrayed.

Kaleb tugged on the other girls' sleeve. "C'mon," she muttered "or we'll lose them in the crowds." She too caught a passing glimpse of Harry's hurt look though. They wound their way down through the seemingly never-ending passages of the castle, spiraling ever-downward, ever-onward. Kaleb tapped Goyle's shoulder. "How much farther?"

He grunted.

She rolled her eyes, narrowing them as they finished their circle of her sockets. She glanced at Hazel to see how she'd taken to being ignored. Hazel hunched over, slitting her eyes and letting her mouth hang open in an incredible impression of how the offender was walking now. Kaleb couldn't help but snicker. Malfoy whipped around. "What? Do you find something funny?" He snapped.

Hazel just grinned cheekily. "Just your minions, cousin."

Kaleb flicked his nose lightly as she passed, turning and walking backwards ahead of them down the hall. "You gonna get us to the common room before morning comes? Lets pick up the pace Draco."

The platinum blonde resolved to have a 'talk' with this new student later. No one in the school, except Pansy on the odd occasion, called him 'Draco'. _Why did I tell her that would be an acceptable title for her to refer to me as? WHY?_ Steel grey met stormy grey as their eyes locked in the first stare-down of many to come that year. Much to his frustration, she would not give in. In the end, it was Draco who turned away first. He was simply too tired to be bothered by this obviously miss-sorted Slytherin. Looking slightly perplexed, Crabbe and Goyle continued to follow their ring leader. Kaleb dropped back to walk with Hazel as they continued on.

---

Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor boys dorm room…

"Ron, stop pacing." Harry growled from where he lay face down on his bed.

Ron finished his circuit of the common room and just kept going. "Can't. Too Restless."

Harry rolled his eyes beneath their lids. "After a feast?"

This time when Ron finished his circuit he threw himself roughly onto his bed, letting out a rush of air in general annoyance.

"Why can't you sleep?" Harry asked, getting perturbed. _If Seamus, Dean and Neville would stop taking their time getting here then at least it wouldn't be just me sitting here bothering him for being bothered. _

Ron hesitated. "Thinking." Without offering any sort of explanation or changing into his pajamas, Ron rolled over and curled up in his sheets, and remained silent for the rest of the night.


	6. Professor Bathory

shadow: ... I sense... I sense... I sense Tara coming home for Christmas and the end of exams and Mrs. Weasley's knit jumpers and chocolate frogs!

Tara: Oh, really? That's intense. Maybe you have a spider sense like Spiderman

Ginny: Who? Isn't this a Harry Potter fiction?

shadow: Can I just have a wand instead?

Rowling: My books have been cannibalized by children -.-'

Ch. 6

Hazel opened her eyes and for a second, she couldn't remember where she was. She searched the canopy of her bed looking for the familiar maroon hangings and Eyrie's school crest; a fiery griffin. After a moment her sleep-fogged brain registered that she was at Hogwarts, not Eyerie Academy; and was in a dormitory not her private room. That thought was punctuated by the resounding crash that came from Kaleb, one bed over, falling out.

Hazel groaned "Kaleb! Beds are for sleeping, not for breaking," her statement was met by a string of curses. Kaleb as per usual had woken up her normal grumpy self. It was probably a good thing that Pansy, and whoever the fourth occupant of their dorm was had already left.

"Who needs a working bed? Maybe I wouldn't fall out of one that was broken." She grumbled moodily. As per her statement on the train, she was clearly not a morning person. The girls dressed slowly, pulling on their robes. "Why green? I ask you," Kaleb griped, "It has got to be the most uncomplimentary colour on me ever!" She adopted a whining voice that sounded uncannily like Pansy Parkinson. The girls had received a hearty welcome from their roommate the previous evening, including a full lecture as they readied for bed about the Parkinson bloodline and who they should keep an eye on in the Slytherin circles of power. She didn't seem particularly thick or shallow, if anything she'd struck Kaleb as intelligent, but lacking at least half her common sense.

Hazel laughed as she tugged on her own Hogwarts robes. "It's our house colour; it's a symbol of our sneaky Slytherin ways. Besides, you have black hair and pale skin, you really don't look bad at all."

"Thanks." Kaleb sighed, pulled from her tangent thoughts. "I think I need breakfast." Hazel nodded her agreement. As they were sliding on their shoes, Kaleb noticed how nice Hazels' skin looked with her robes; not pale, exactly, more just… light. It matched, for lack of a better description. She tried to think back and remember if she'd gotten paler since the train ride yesterday, she could've sworn the other girl had had a tan then…

"Shall we?" Hazel interrupted unknowingly.

Kalebs' head snapped up. "What? Oh, yes, 'course."

Shoes on and robes secured, both girls grabbed their book bags and headed down the stairs towards the emptying common room. Hazel had to admit, getting used to the cold, ornate setting was going to be a slow process.

---

At breakfast students filed in to the Great Hall laughing and talking, eager to start the new term. Hazel and Kaleb found their seats from the night before and waited patiently for the food to appear. Kaleb jumped as Professor Snape appeared behind them, handing out the new timetables.

"Hey, we have Defense first!" Kaleb said as she scanned her timetable, "with… with Professor Bathory? Harry never mentioned him… or her." She turned to glance at Hazel's timetable, but the other girl had vanished. Kaleb scanned the hall for her friend and was surprised to see her over at the Gryffindor table, comparing notes with Starr, Gregory, Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The Gryffindors seemed rather shocked, as did the other Slytherins; whispers began to breakout.

Kaleb stood up and marched over to the group immediately, there was something to be said for blending in once in a while. Largely considering all they'd done the previous evening was bother Malfoy. "Hazel, we had this problem last night." She said as soon as she was within hearing distance. "The houses don't seem to talk to each other outside of classes." She grabbed Hazel's arm and prepared to drag her back to their own table. As she came up along-side Harry, she whispered; 'See you in Defense' out of the corner of her mouth. Harry didn't turn to face her or say anything back; he just hid his smirk behind a very large bite of marmalade on toast.

---

"Defense with the Slytherins!" Ron moaned dropping his head into his hands as the class waited outside the door to the classroom. "Why can't we be with the Hufflepuffs? Why do we have to be with _anyone?"_

Harry watched his friend with an amused expression. "Not all Slytherins are bad," he said as Kaleb and Hazel came down the hall. "You seemed to get on with a certain two of them well enough yesterday."

Ron glared at him. "That was before they were Slytherins, Harry. You can't seriously expect me to… what?" Ron asked as Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I'm not abandoning them because of where they were sorted, Ron. You were friends with them well enough on the train." Her tone carried the distinct note of frustration. "They're fun, they're intelligent, _they're our friends _and they're in our Defense class."

As Hazel and Kaleb came within hearing distance of the group, the conversation died down to muted glares between Ron and Hermione. Hazels' smile wilted, and Kalebs' stormy eyes took in the pair's looks without any surprise. "So… how about them Cannons?" She asked, attempting to break the tension with the familiar Quidditch talk she and Harry had used that summer.

Harry acquired an odd look on his face, and promptly snickered, turning his snickers into a cough as Ron turned a sour look on him. "Ah, ahem, sorry about that Ron." He coughed again. "Something in my throat…" Kaleb smirked to herself, Hermione and Hazel hiding little giggles.

"Where's our Professor?" Hazel asked suddenly. "What was it… Professor A. Bathory? Dumbledore didn't introduce him last night."

Hermione nodded. "I noticed that, I was starting to wonder whether or not he'd found someone to replace Umbridge."

"I heard about that!" Hazel said excitedly. "Over at Eyrie we were in stitches over the idea of that toad woman as a professor."

"Got who as a professor?" Gregory's voice asked. The group stopped and looked around for a moment, trying to figure out where he was. "I'm right here." He added, finally making it through another circle of chatting Gryffindors.

Gregory didn't get his question answered though, because just then the door to the Defense classroom swung open, and someone, presumably their professor, called out in a very deep voice; "Come in class. Take your seats."

The class balked momentarily, waiting for someone else to be the first. Trading glances with Ron and Hermione, Harry stepped in through the door, and the rest of the class slowly followed.

The room which had previously been decorated with everything from white doilies and portraits of Lockhart to Dark Arts Detectors was now decorated with a much more muted theme. A large collection of tombs and books covered one wall, with titles such as 'A Basic Guide to The Dark Arts', 'Magical Creatures and Their Natural Habitat', 'Legalities of The Dark Arts and Dueling' and 'Dueling for The Intermediate Student'. The wall on the opposite side of the classroom was primarily comprised of large windows, between which were beautifully painted portraits of various creatures such as Hinkypunks, Boggarts and Werewolves; these paused to observe the class filter into the room with mild interest before resuming their regular activities. Up at the front, behind the professors' desk was an interesting assortment of odd looking gadgets, none of which anyone recognized off-hand.

Hermione, Harry and Ron took one of the tables in the second row, Gregory and Starr adopting the table in front of them; they were joined by Dean Thomas after more students had come in. Kaleb and Hazel slid into a table beside Blaise Zambini, pretending not to notice the look he and Draco shared at this development.

When everyone had taken a seat and was observing him curiously, Professor Bathory rose up out of his chair behind a grand mahogany desk and smiled at the class. He was a large, tall, imposing figure, looking doubly so with his billowing black robes that covered him from neck to wrist to floor. His hair was just as long and jet black as Snape's, though not greasy in the slightest; and his features were bold and strong. Every gesture and movement he made was smooth and powerful, confidence without the foolish accompaniment of cockiness. He didn't appear to have been more then 30, and his skin was smooth and pale in the sunlight as it streamed through the windows. "I," He began in a deep, rumbling voice, "am Professor Bathory."

There was complete silence and attention from the class, except for Draco Malfoy, who leaned back in his chair and calmly observed this new Professor with his steel grey eyes. "I've looked over your education for the past five years, and I must say that the only proficient professors you've had have either been saboteurs or… shall we say… wild." Many of the students exchanged glances with one another. It was unnerving to have a Professor stand so boldly in front of them and declare that their only decent teachers had been interesting, to say the least, in his opinion. "They taught you what you needed to know, though." He paused to smile, revealing very straight, very white teeth; and very dominant canines. No one could say for sure if it was a friendly gesture or not.

"If you think you can surprise or impress me you are sorely mistaken, my expectations are high, and I expect respect from all of you." His eyes, a deep, dark shade somewhere between maroon and black rested on Malfoy, still leaning on the back legs of his chair. "Do we have an understanding, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco's eyes focused again on Bathory. "Of course, Professor." He let the two front legs of his chair come down on the stone floor with a smack. He propped his head up lazily with his arm, and waited with a barely concealed smirk for the Professor's response.

Bathory smiled again. "I think I'm going to enjoy teaching you, Malfoy."

---

"If any of my other classes are like that I think I'm going to chuck myself off the Astronomy tower." Ron moaned as the students filtered quickly out of Bathory's room towards their next class. "Mad is a good word for him, but not batty like Trelawney, more intense then she could ever manage."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't think it's as bad as you're making it out to be Ron."

"I think he's pretty cool." Kaleb voiced from Harry's other side as they strode down the hall. "How often do you get a Professor that commands attention like he does? Defense is going to be fantastic!"

Hazel cocked an eyebrow. "He's certainly going to make sure we know the material." They paused for a second, thinking of the essay he had already assigned them on a jinx of their choice to be handed in the following week.

"Where did you go to school before, Kaleb?" Hermione asked suddenly. "I think Eyrie is the only other school in Britain. It's really rather small though; and you didn't attend there as far as I know."

Kaleb shrugged her shoulder. "I was home schooled for the most part. I moved around a good deal. Belgium was home for a while, so was France, Spain, Romania, Italy, Africa for a few weeks. Japan, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand for a while..." She shrugged again. "Half the time I could hardly speak the local language, so I was home schooled by a loony old man more often than not."

Harry stared. "You never told me you'd been _that_ many places!"

"It's hardly of interest." She said quickly. "I didn't really have friends, and I didn't want to say anything that would make you all think me strange, or something like that." She played with the green bandana she wore religiously on her forearm, twisting the ends of the knot in her fingers.

Even Ron, although grudgingly, had to admit it was interesting; and that he was envious. "I went to Egypt once." He put in. "We went inside all these pyramids and saw skeletons with two head. It was brilliant."

Gregory, who had been chatting with Hermione until she'd joined the conversation, added his own piece. "Are the uniforms they wear in Egypt hot?" He was greeted by five blank stares from his five companions. He turned a nice shade of pink and cast his eyes onto the flagstone floor of the corridor. "Well, it's a perfectly suitable question…" He muttered to no one in particular. Harry, Hazel and Kaleb snickered quietly. Hermione made a little coughing noise, and couldn't seem to find her voice.

"Actually," Ron continued as if Gregory had asked a perfectly normal question about the weather. "They were rather good, now that I think about it."

The others lost it, trying vainly to hide their mirth from Hermione who could only stare at them all in amazement.

---

"I'm hungry."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're always hungry."

"No, seriously, I'm really, really hungry." Ron repeated himself.

Harry smiled. "He's not _always_ hungry, just a good amount of the time."

Starr laughed. It was right near the end of charms, the class they had directly before lunch; and by her internal clock, the first day at Hogwarts was passing fast. "You can last another fifteen minutes Ron, surely."

There was a moment's pause. Harry tried another disillusionment charm. "I'm hungry."

"Ron!" The group groaned in unison.

---

It was the end of a long day by Draco Malfoy's standards. The morning's lessons had largely been a review of things he did not require review on, lunch had been lack-luster, and the afternoon's lessons were hardly engaging. On the whole, the most exciting part of his day so far had been getting a rise out of the new Defense teacher.

"Malfoy!"

He turned at the sound of his name, silently searching the hall he had been passing through. Her head was bobbing through the scattered crowd with enough intention that she seemed fairly obvious to him. Pansy Parkinson stopped just short of him, her right hand clutching her school bag tightly from her jaunt. "There's a problem in the common room you might want to see."

Draco raised his eyebrow, the closest he ever got to showing curiosity or confusion in public. "Alright." He answered shortly, and strode smoothly down a different corridor, headed to the Slytherin common room by the quickest route he knew. The pair ducked behind a tapestry and took the hidden stairs two at a time, without running. "What happened?" He asked once they were out of earshot from the other students.

Pansy pushed her dark bangs out of her face and addressed the back of his head. "That new girl Evans' blood isn't the cleanest, she and the Fallow girl are about to throw curses at that fifth year from Devonshire, Henry Solequey, I believe."

Draco rolled his eyes as he continued down the tightly spiraling stairs, and then stepped out into a hall near their common room. "Fantastic. They've been here how long?"

"Too long." Pansy grumbled irately. "They don't fit, and I doubt this will improve their positions in the House."

"They don't need to worry about their positions in the House." Draco snorted derisively. Pansy didn't answer, unsure she'd heard him correctly.

They continued to walk in an agreeable silence until Pansy's musing produced another thought. "Mind you, if they take care of this with brute force – " She was cut off as Draco spoke the password to the statue, they had reached the common room much faster than she had anticipated. The sharp sound of breaking glass came tinkering out from the open statue. Mildly alarmed the two went inside and stood just out of the way, observing.

Kaleb had a viscous glare across her face, her lips drawn into an angry line as she stared down Solequey. Hazel's eyes were wide in shock, she continually glanced at Kaleb and kept watch over what appeared to be Solequey's accomplice. He was unconscious. Kaleb and Hazel were at right angles to one another, Hazel watching the unconscious boy while Kaleb covered her from Solequey. It appeared to Draco that Kaleb had stepped into the situation to defend Hazel, not the other way around.

"Did you really think a full body bind would help you win this?" Kaleb asked calmly, she was clearly mad. Looking somewhat horrified Solequey took a step backwards and threw three quick charms at Kaleb, who blocked all three with non verbal shield spells. "Idiot." She snorted, throwing a leg locker curse ahead of another, electric turquoise spell Draco was largely sure he had once read about. Solequey's muscle bunched and his blonde hair caught a flash of the following spell as he blocked her leg locker curse and was too slow for the second; he was hit with the jolt of light. It dissipated promptly after impact and he convulsed once, although it appeared to be more from shock than actually physical pain.

Kaleb blocked his final curse and then crossed her arms, waiting. "What did you do, Fallow?" Solequey muttered; his voice was tight as he tried desperately to hide his worry.

It wasn't long, the boy abruptly doubled over and clutched his stomach, groaning. Kaleb smirked. With another soft groan Solequey fell to his knees and slowly keeled over onto the stone floor. Hazel returned her friend's smirk as they silently gathered their bags and aimed themselves for the door. They'd only made it half way there when one of Solequey's friends yelled a question after them.

"Wait!" They paused and turned just enough to see the yeller. "What'd you do?"

Kaleb's facial expression was flat as she answered. "Ask him when he comes around."

As they passed Draco and Pansy, Hazel caught a glimpse of Draco's mouth, the corners tightly held down against his amusement. "They appear to have everything in hand." He murmured to Pansy once the girls were gone, then slipped through the crowd of shocked Slytherins into his dormitory. He resolved to have Kaleb tell him the remainder of the story later that evening.

---

Neville was sitting dejectedly in one of the chairs by the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, his eyes staring blankly into the flames as they licked their way up and down the logs. He couldn't remember exactly when he had sat down, he just knew he'd been there long enough for the noise to ebb down as everyone moved out of the portrait on their way to dinner.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting across the room, just packing up their things from watching Hermione do her first revising of the year. Ron caught sight of Neville as they stood and turned on their way to the portrait hole. "Oi! Neville!" Ron called. "What're you still doing here? There's food in the Great Hall."

Neville came out of his reverie slowly, enough that the three had made it over to where he was seated before he could respond with any lucidity. "Just… thinking…"

Hermione glanced at Ron and Harry. "Does this have anything to do with the O.W.L. requirements this morning?"

The soft boy sighed, clearly not eager to explain his mood. "I didn't make it into N.E.W.T. Potions, but McGonagall and I talked about it this morning, and now I'm in Charms." Unable to see where this was going, the three remained silent. It took Neville a moment to explain what that had to do with his mood, as far as they were concerned, Neville hadn't ever been a candidate for N.E.W.T. level Potions. Harry still didn't understand how he himself had managed to squeak into the class. "My Gran thinks Charms is soft, another useless option."

Hermione snorted her disdain. "I think that's rubbish Neville, Charms is one of the most useful subjects in magic and you're much better at it than Potions."

Neville moved his unfocused gaze to her face. "You think so?"

"Certainly." Hermione responded sharply. "Just because it's not Potions or Transfiguration doesn't mean it's soft. Look at what famous witches and wizards have done with Charms! Most healing magic is derived from Charms and I'll bet your Gran doesn't like it because she was rubbish at it."

Ron grinned wryly. "Yeah, that's why Hermione dropped Divination." Harry was mightily impressed that Hermione's only reaction to that comment was a glare and a heartfelt 'shut up Ron'.

"I failed Divination." Harry smiled to keep the momentum they had on Neville going.

Ron couldn't resist another remark. "…and beat Hermione in Defense."

"Oh Ron grow up! You nearly failed History of Magic, didn't make it to N.E.W.T. level Potions _and_ only just _barely _got through your Charms exam because I lent you all my revision notes!" Hermione burst out in an angry snarl.

Ron deflated quickly under the growing glower Hermione was giving him, adding meekly. "You forgot that Harry and I failed Divination as a team."

Hermione's eyes narrowed further. "Boys!" Without another intelligible word she strode over to the portrait hole and hopped through, leaving a discouraged Ron, a not-so-surprised Harry and a slightly more optimistic Neville.

After a moment of silence, Neville stood and brushed off the front of his robes. "I'm going to go write to Gran then, while I'm feeling brave. Save me a spot at dinner, will you?"

"Of course." Harry responded automatically. Then he turned to stare at Ron. "You shouldn't have insulted her like that."

Ron was still off-set by the violent way in which Hermione had left. "You reckon?"

Harry nodded. "There'll be no living with her after this."


End file.
